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Home , George Engleheart, Henry Bone, John Smart, Nicholas Hilliard, Peter Oliver (painter), Portrait

Portrait European Art 1775–1825 Miniatures

Materials & Techniques Watercolor Ivory The earliest miniatures from the By the early 1700s, miniaturists began to 1500s are watercolor on vellum, paint on ivory. Initially, ivory was cut in a translucent, fine animal skin adhered sheets about one millimeter thick from to the plain side of a playing card with elephant tusks. However, by the starch paste. The playing card provided a the sheets were cut so thin they were white surface and added support. transparent. The luminosity of the thin To ensure an even, smooth bond between sheets of ivory in combination with the the vellum and card, artists rubbed translucency of watercolor proved to be a tool—usually an animal’s tooth in a the perfect blend of surface and technique wooden handle—over the entire surface. to render skin tones and the transparent fabrics in fashion. To increase ivory’s Initially, miniaturists prepared their own brightness, artists placed silver foil behind watercolors by grinding pigments made the ivory. from minerals, plants, dried insect bodies, and manufactured pigments, many of Ivory has a greasy, nonabsorbent surface, which contained lead. Pigments were thus watercolors tended to run. Therefore, powdered and mixed with gum arabic many early on ivory reveal a (a binding agent) and water. By the early cautious, mechanical technique. Miniaturists 1700s, commercially prepared artists’ developed new methods to facilitate materials were readily available. on ivory, including degreasing the surface with vinegar and garlic, or Watercolor has a delicate drawing out the grease through heat and transparency, ideal for rendering then blotting the ivory with paper. Artists skin tones. However, watercolor is also sanded ivory with powdered pumice extremely sensitive to direct light or sandpaper to roughen the surface, and and prone to fading. For this reason, sometimes added more gum arabic to their the light levels on this side of the watercolor, increasing its stickiness and its gallery must remain low. ability to adhere to the ivory. In the 1680s, enamel painting—pigments Paper and wax fused into enamel on metal—formed one Wax modeling had been popular since the of the first technological innovations 1300s. Goldsmiths initially used this method in painting. Enamel of modeling for designing cast medals. painting is labor intensive because Artists quickly realized, however, that the each color requires a separate firing warm and delicate texture of colored wax at different temperatures. Although closely imitated flesh and blood. it’s a slow and sometimes problematic Watercolor on paper was also popular. process—cracks often occurred during Quicker and easier to produce, these firing—the benefits were dazzling and the works were less expensive than ivory colors permanent. or enamel on metal. The disadvantage, however, is that paper discolors. Miniatures in watercolor on paper also functioned as preparatory sketches for ivories.

European Art 1775–1825

Tools of the Trade Such small-scale painting demanded sophisticated technique and precise tools. Details such as hair, clothing, or jewelry might require brushwork or shading, hatching with parallel brushstrokes, or scratching into the surface with scrapers. Stippling with tiny dots of color, often called the water-drop technique, was popular on both vellum and ivory. Methods of working on a smooth support, such as vellum or ivory, were carefully chosen as repainting in watercolor would soften and smear already painted surfaces. These methods required delicate tools, such as small brushes made of squirrel hair and set in goose quills mounted in wooden handles.

Burnishing tool made of an ermine tooth, The Victoria and Albert Museum,

Settings & Functions Artists presented miniatures to their The size varies greatly: small miniatures clients in frames. Those intended as were often private and worn close to the jewelry were set in lockets or in small body as jewelry, whereas larger miniatures frames affixed to bracelets. Miniatures were for more public settings. Large-scale intended for private viewing may have rectangular miniatures, called cabinet appeared in simple metal frames and miniatures, developed along with their placed in carved ivory or ebony boxes or smaller oval counterparts from the 1500s. leather cases. By the 1800s, round metal The early cabinet miniatures often present frames fixed on wooden boards facilitated a sitter in full length and show interiors in hanging on walls. Glass enclosed most elaborate detail, similar to oil paintings. ivory miniatures to protect them from By the 1800s, however, portrait miniatures moisture and scratching. Miniatures rarely emulated small-scale in terms retained their original frame, as individual of size and bold coloring. They also collectors reframed them according to demonstrated a degree of high finish and personal taste. sharp focus, qualities of their impending rival, the photograph. Human hair was often a component of the framing on miniatures. From a single lock of hair to intricately plaited arrangements, hairworks were especially popular in and the United States from the late 1700s to the early 1900s. This art form usually commemorated loss; however, it also could celebrate an engagement or friendship. ‘/Volumes/DESIGN/DESIGN/SHARED/JOINT/GALLERY/NEW Galleries/207/Gallery Guides/ Rotation 2/MinRotation2.indd

Rotation 2: European Art 1775–1825 Elizabethan to Post-Restoration Miniatures: 1570s–1700

During the reign of Between the death of Hilliard and the rise (1558–1603), the miniature achieved of [7–8], John Hoskins was its highest status, due in part to its the finest miniature painter in . greatest exponent, . Hoskins pioneered a number of miniature techniques, among them the use of His early miniatures followed landscape or sky backgrounds. This allusion the queen’s order that no hint of to the outdoors [5] places the sitter in shadow should cloud the royal an actual setting and lends an individual countenance. Thus, Hilliard depicted sensitivity to the object. her and other patrons in a flat, two- Hoskins’s nephew, Samuel Cooper, trained dimensional style [2–3]. with his uncle and assimilated Hoskins’s Hilliard generally worked in a small ability to capture individual character. format [1–2], signaling the miniature’s Cooper’s sitters retain the reality of private function. On rare occasions he living people without being idealistic painted on a larger scale [3]. These [7–8]. Many consider Cooper’s unfinished large portrait miniatures, called “cabinet works, including his portrait of the English pictures,” were housed in public display philosopher Thomas Hobbes [8], to cabinets similar to this one. represent his greatest achievement in capturing an individual likeness. Intricate details dominate Hilliard’s miniatures and reflect the Elizabethan Equally distinct in both subject matter love of elaborate costume and jewelry and style is Richard Gibson’s miniature of [1–3]. Some include gold and silver Lady Capell [6]. Gibson’s somber colors mottoes that relate to the sitter’s identity, contribute to the sorrowful mood; Lady such as that surrounding [2], which Capell was in mourning for her husband. identifies the year Hilliard painted it, 1576, Unlike the smooth brushwork of most and the age of the sitter, 39. miniaturists, Gibson used a distinctive dragged impasto (thickly laid paint) First trained as a goldsmith, Hilliard technique he learned from oil painters. introduced innovative techniques for painting pearls by applying a raised bead In contrast, Peter Cross combined short of white lead paint topped by a drop brushstrokes and dots to achieve the soft of burnished silver. Despite its original focus in his Portrait of a Woman [9]. brilliance, Hilliard’s painted pearls now appear black, as the silver has tarnished with age. Hilliard’s pupils, including and by extension Oliver’s son, Peter, used these methods, accounting for the black jewels in the crown and earrings of the young woman [4].

European Art 1775–1825

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1 Portrait of a Woman, early 1590s 6 Portrait of Elizabeth Morrison, Lady Watercolor on card Capell, 1650s Nicholas Hilliard Watercolor on vellum (British, about 1547–1619) Richard Gibson The Edward B. Greene Collection 1940.1210 (British, about 1615–1690) The Edward B. Greene Collection 1941.555 2 Portrait of Baron Howard of Effingham, 1576 7 Portrait of a Woman, 1646 Watercolor on vellum Watercolor on vellum Nicholas Hilliard Samuel Cooper (British, about 1547–1619) (British, 1608–1672) Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry in memory of The Edward B. Greene Collection 1940.1204 Mr. and Mrs. Edward Belden Greene 1960.39 8 Portrait of Thomas Hobbes, about 1660 3 Portrait of Anthony Mildmay, Watercolor on vellum about 1590–93 Samuel Cooper Watercolor on vellum (British, 1608–1672) Nicholas Hilliard The Edward B. Greene Collection 1949.548 (British, about 1547–1619) about 1700 Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1926.554 9 Portrait of a Woman in Blue, Watercolor on vellum 4 Portrait of a Woman, about 1616 Peter Cross Watercolor on card (British, about 1645–1724) Peter Oliver The Edward B. Greene Collection 1941.554 (British, about 1594–1647) The Edward B. Greene Collection 1941.559

5 Portrait of a Man, about 1630 Watercolor on card John Hoskins (British, about 1590–1665) The Edward B. Greene Collection 1941.558 Rotation 3: European Art 1775–1825 New Generation of Miniaturists in England: 1770–1800

Between 1700 and 1800 Britain’s saturated jewel-tone colors, his work is population increased by nearly four quieter in tone than Cosway’s due to his million people in tandem with a rise cautious stipple technique. This creates an exquisitely smooth surface with little in its national wealth. As a result, trace of individual brush strokes, except for many middle-class consumers Smart’s fondness for anatomical details anxious to flaunt their status fueled such as crows’ feet, a feature in his own the market for portraiture. A new Self-portrait [11]. generation of miniaturists proliferated, Although both painters were equally reaching a zenith from 1770–1800. popular, Cosway had a host of followers [1, 2, 7, 9] and John and rivals. Followers included Andrew and Smart [8, 10, 11] were among its Nathaniel Plimer [5, 6, 12, 13]. Both worked leading practitioners. in Cosway’s studio where Andrew adopted Cosway’s linear brushwork and his use Cosway and Smart were personally of large, expressive eyes—a feature that and artistically opposite. Cosway made Andrew’s miniatures soulfully elegant, was an eccentric showman, prone to earning him many admirers. Nathaniel was ostentatious dress and behavior. Likewise, less prolific, and examples of his work are he depicted Londoners in the most rare. Although his male and female sitters fashionable attire, such as the filmy white remain unknown [12, 13], they appear in muslin dress worn by Fanny Swinburne similarly framed gold lockets with matching [1], and the white turbans on the braided hairwork, a commemorative Countess of Mountnorris and Catherine element that could signal their union. Clemens [2, 9]. Cosway focused the viewer’s attention on the sitter’s face was one of Cosway’s by enlarging their eyes and head. He greatest rivals and stylistically the closest to contrasted a delicate stipple technique his work. However, Engleheart’s miniatures for faces with a loose arrangement of have a more labored tone. Like Cosway, linear brushwork elsewhere. he often placed his figures against a sky background [3]. But the firm drawing, eyes In contrast, Smart lived more quietly. under heavy brows [3, 4], and above all, the From 1784 to 1794 he went to , use of grays and blacks for the shadows, are hoping to secure patronage from wealthy distinctive of Engleheart. princes or those involved in England’s booming trade market. He included the initial “I” (signifying India) in works from this period, a clue to the identity of his Portrait of a Man [10], who may have been an associate of the East India Trading Company. Despite Smart’s use of

European Art 1775–1825

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1 Portrait of Fanny Swinburne, about 1790 8 Portrait of Constantine Phipps, 1770 Richard Cosway I (British, 1742–1821) (British, 1741–1811) 1941.553 1951.437

2 Portrait of Anne, Countess of 9 Portrait of Catherine Clemens and Her Mountnorris, about 1790 Son, John Marcus Clemens, about 1790 Richard Cosway Richard Cosway (British, 1742–1821) (British, 1742–1821) 1942.1138 1941.552

3 Portrait of a Man, about 1790s 10 Portrait of a Man, 1786 George Engleheart John Smart I (British, 1752–1829) (British, 1741–1811) 1941.556 1949.546

4 Portrait of a Man, about 1790 11 Self-portrait, 1802 George Engleheart John Smart I (British, 1752–1829) (British, 1741–1811) 1943.640 1952.95

5 Portrait of a Woman, 1790s 12 Portrait of a Man, 1780s Andrew Plimer Nathaniel Plimer (British, 1763–1837) (British, 1757–1822) 1943.649 1941.562.1

6 Portrait of a Young Man, about 1790 13 Portrait of a Woman, 1780s Andrew Plimer Nathaniel Plimer (British, 1763–1837) (British, 1757–1822) 1942.1153 1941.562.2

7 Portrait of a Man, about 1780 All of the above miniatures are painted in Richard Cosway watercolor on ivory, and are part of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Edward B. Greene Collection. (British, 1742–1821) 1942.1137 Rotation 4: European Art 1775–1825 Continental Crosscurrents

Though miniature painting had Known as the “Cosway of Vienna,” German- flourished in England from the 1500s, born Heinrich Füger became a it underwent a fundamental change in Austria. Among his distinguished sitters are Count Tschernitscheff [2], Russian in the early 1700s when the Venetian ambassador to Vienna, and Countess Thun artist and pastellist Rosalba Carriera [3], a Viennese aristocrat. What aligns Füger introduced the use of ivory in place of with Cosway is the graceful and elegant vellum when she began painting the style they share. Less flamboyant than lids of ivory snuffboxes [1]. Carriera’s Cosway, Füger deftly captured the sitter’s innovation spread throughout Europe. individual character. Consider Countess Thun’s contemplative pose, all the more Ivory presents a greasy surface that intriguing because Füger may have painted repels watercolor, making it difficult to her on the occasion of her engagement paint. Carriera revolutionized the process in 1793. by using watercolor mixed with a gummy white that emulated the powdery surface At the beginning of the 1800s, artistic of her and also adhered to the cross-currents between Russia and Britain ivory. She contrasted this technique swelled as interest in Russia as an eastern with a transparent wash in the faces, power intensified.Portrait of a Woman by a allowing the ivory ground to emerge. Russian artist [7] from the 1810s still exhibits This contrasting effect provided a visual characteristics of the British style, including variety that was unattainable on vellum. the sitter’s sense of quiet reserve. In Continental Europe, especially , Carriera’s use of opaque “gouache” was influential. By the , miniaturists including Antoine Vestier [6], Charles Henard [4], and Jean Jacques de Lusse [5] incorporated Carriera’s techniques. Their miniatures balance transparent and opaque pigments. In contrast, artists in England, particularly Richard Cosway, rarely used gouache, preferring more transparent washes, as evident in the illustration of the diaphanous fabric of Fanny Swinburne’s dress (at the right). Technique was not the only difference between English and Continental miniaturists. Carriera’s sensibility and her refined approach to the figure found more currency in France than in England. Note the captivating charm and opulence of the three French female sitters [4–6]. Instead, artists influenced by Cosway [2, 3 & 7], and English sitters Richard Cosway. Portrait of Fanny Swinburne, around 1790. Watercolor on ivory. The Edward B. in general, keep the viewer at a distance. Greene Collection 1941.553

Recent Acquisition European Art 1775–1825 Madonna and Child A Cabinet Miniature by Anna Maria Carew

Little is known about Anna Maria Carew beyond a document that records her presence at the English court of Charles II (reigned 1660–1685). In 1662, the king awarded her an annual pension of £200 for copying paintings in the in miniature. This tremendous sum attests to Carew’s elevated status and to the value placed on cabinet miniatures. Although miniature painting was considered an artistic occupation well suited to women, relatively few female miniaturists are known before the 18th century.

Carew’s individual style is apparent in the miniature, which retains the grandeur of the original, deftly communicated through the Virgin’s dramatically upturned eyes [1]. However, Carew made several important adjustments from the original work by , which had been in since its creation and during the period that Carew probably executed her version in miniature [2]. The painting was therefore probably known to her only through Paulus Pontius’s engraving [3]. Carew omits the cherub brooch worn by the Virgin in both the original painting and the engraving, and she reverses the Fig. 1 Detail of Madonna and Child by Anna Maria Carew colors of the Virgin’s gown and mantle. This latter detail may be further evidence that Carew studied only the engraving and did not see the original, in which Mary wears a red gown. She also eliminated the monumental column base, and instead of a dark cavernous space, Carew chose a more intimate, round format and a plain background suffused with the gentle glow of the halos. The circular format was a significant creative departure from the traditional, rectangular form of cabinet miniatures. European Art 1775–1825

right: Fig. 2 Anthony van Dyck, Madonna and Child, 1620s. By Permission of the Trustees of below: Fig. 3 Paulus Pontius after Anthony van Dyck, Madonna and Child, 1620–30. © Trustees of the Anna Maria Carew signed her name confidently in gold. A narrow gold border encircles the miniature, underscoring the preciousness of the object, which may have been used in a devotional capacity. Although it was never in the Royal Collection, Carew’s Madonna and Child could have been commissioned by someone at the court of Charles II. The patron might have been a Catholic who felt at liberty to commission a religious subject from a well-known painting in spite of the intensely anti-Catholic sentiment throughout England at the time. Charles II was a reluctant persecutor of Catholics, but his attitude of relative tolerance would be stamped out by the anti-Catholic policies of his successors William and Mary toward the end of the century, when this type of work would become even more rare.

Rotation 6: European Art 1775–1825 From Revolution to Empire: French Miniatures from 1795–1805

During the intense social and political Dumont was an important figure in French upheaval of the French Revolution (1789– miniature painting, and his work spans 99), patrons continued to commission pre- and post-revolutionary France. We in miniature, but they were not do not know the identity of the sitter in his Portrait of a Woman in a Brown Dress immune to the changes that the Revolution [1]. The rich, dark tones create a quiet, brought about in fashion, or to the climate introspective mood, drawing attention to of anxiety that gripped the nation. her warm and open expression. The tenor Four men painted in 1795 represent is quite different in Dumont’s Portrait conservative attitudes toward male of Mademoiselle Marie-Anne Adelaide portraiture during a critical year between Le Normand [7]. She was a fortuneteller the Reign of Terror (1793–94), during consulted by revolutionary leaders and which tens of thousands of people were Empress Josephine. After having his executed, and the Directory (1795–99), fortune told, one visitor described her this which struggled to restore order to the way: “It was impossible for imagination nation. François Dumont’s Portrait of a to conceive a more hideous being. She Man represents his sitter in a delicate looked like a monstrous toad, bloated cream-colored waistcoat and billowing and venomous. She had one wall-eye, but necktie [3]. Set against a pale blue the other was a background, Dumont creates a lighter piercer . . . the atmosphere than we see in portraits by walls of the room Charles de Chatillon and Lié Louis Périn were covered [4, 2]. In Chatillon’s Portrait of a Man, the with huge bats, sitter wears a miniature with a wheat nailed by their sheaf made of hair—a reminder of a loved wings to the one [fig. A, to the right]. ceiling, stuffed owls, cabalistic Périn’s Portrait of Noël-François Charles signs, skeletons.” Cailles des Fontaines is also restrained and introspective, appropriate for this sitter who was a lawyer at bailiff’s court in the provincial city of Caen. Marie Gabrielle Capet was an early female member of the French Academy and skilled in , oil painting, and miniatures. Her Portrait of a Man in a Landscape ambitiously incorporates a scene in which a man rows a boat against a rocky coast [5]. The seaside fig. A (top) Detail of Charles setting probably relates to the vocation de Chatillon’s of the man represented and casts him in Portrait of a Man fig. B (bottom) a dramatic light. This work was originally Detail of François the lid of a snuff box, the bezel of which Dumont’s Portrait of Mademoiselle has been converted to a frame. Marie-Anne Adelaide Le Normand

Rotation 7: European Art 1775–1825 The Development of Painting en Grande Miniature in France, 1795–1820

Following the French Revolution (1789– to flatter sitters by painting them with 1799) and the resulting interruption of a soft gauze of color—the 19th-century state-sponsored commissions, portraiture equivalent of air-brushing. attained a new level of prominence at the Before the revolution, Guérin painted French Salons. Artists developed new portraits of the royal family, including methods to keep apace with an increased Marie-Antoinette, and painted ladies desire for portraiture, and to attract new of the court and Napoleonic generals during the 19th century. The sitter in his clientele. Miniature portraits hung adjacent dramatically colored Portrait of a Man to oil paintings at the Salon. To contend [2], wears the Spanish Order of Charles III. with this, miniaturists began working on Guérin’s portraits are more clearly defined a larger scale, framing their works like oil than those by Isabey, as is apparent in the paintings rather than pieces of jewelry. Portrait of a Young Woman in White [5], The transformation of tiny portraits on whose bizarrely attenuated neck is ivory to what became known as portraits used to dramatic effect on this lid for en grande miniature developed out of the a small box. pressures and opportunities afforded by In contrast, portraits by the highly Salon exhibitions. fashionable painter Isabey are characterized by their ethereality, filmy The intimate subject and lack of finish washes of color, and the diaphanous suggest that Jean Baptiste Jacques veils of his female sitters [3,6]. Isabey Augustin’s Self-Portrait [2] was intended was Empress Joséphine’s chief painter, for a private rather than public audience. and chief decorator and director of Unlike the larger works in the rotation, it Imperial festivities to her successor, Marie- is painted on ivory, which is a challenging Louise. In 1814, at the request of a French surface requiring careful preparation in statesman representing the Congress order for the watercolor to adhere. By of Vienna, Isabey traveled to Vienna to contrast, vellum, a translucent fine animal paint delegates. His Portrait of a Man [4] skin, was less costly and more forgiving, may be one of these figures, suggested thus facilitating rapid work on larger by the signature: Isabey/À Vienne/1814. surfaces. This rare self-portrait provides Isabey also painted members of high an intimate view of one of the greatest society, including Portrait of Hortense French miniature painters, employed by de Perregaux, Duchess of Ragusa [6], the French court and . represented here in the year following The two other miniaturists in this rotation, her divorce from the Napoleonic General Jean-Urbain Guérin [1,5] and Jean- Auguste de Marmot, Duc de Ragusa. Baptiste Isabey [3,4,6] both studied Portraits continued to be painted with French painter Jacques Louis David en grand miniature as the century (1748–1825). Although seven years his progressed until they were nearly the senior, Guérin also studied with Isabey. same scale as small oil paintings. The end Stylistic similarities are evident between of miniature as a distinct Guérin and Isabey, particularly in the genre came in the mid 19th century, due decision to use simple backgrounds and to the rapid expansion of .

European Art 1775–1825

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1 Portrait of a Man, 1810 4 Portrait of a Man, 1814 Watercolor on ivory Watercolor on vellum Jean-Urbain Guérin Jean-Baptiste Isabey (French, 1760–1836) (French, 1767–1855) The Edward B. Greene Collection 1942.1135 The Edward B. Greene Collection 1943.645

2 Self-Potrait, about 1805 5 RECENT ACQUISITION Watercolor on ivory Portrait of a Young Women Jean Baaptiste Jacques Augustin in White, about 1795 (French, 1759–1832) Watercolor on ivory The Edward B. Greene Collection 1940.1202 Jean-Urbaine Guérin (French, 1760–1836) 3 Portrait of a Woman Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2008.293 in a White Dress, about 1794–95 Watercolor on vellum 6 Portrait of Hortense Jean-Baptiste Isabey de Perregaux, 1818 (French, 1767–1855) Watercolor on vellum The Edward B. Greene Collection 1942.1147 Jean-Baptiste Isabey (French, 1767–1855) The Edward B. Greene Collection 1942.1146 Rotation 10: European Art 1775–1825 Portrait of a Man Holding a Glass by Joseph Daniel

Joseph Daniel was a Jewish artist who worked in Bath, a fashionable English spa town and important center for portrait painting during the 18th century. Little is known about Joseph’s education except that he and his brothers, Abraham and Phineas, who also painted miniatures and worked as jewelers and engravers, were taught by their mother. Joseph was among the most highly sought-after miniaturists working in Bath. The unknown sitter in this miniature wears a powdered wig, which was falling out of fashion during this period, and holds in Fig. 1. A window’s reflection can be seen in the glass goblet in this detail of Daniel’s miniature. his outstretched hand a goblet probably containing the water visitors to Bath drank and bathed in for its restorative qualities. The New Bath Guide for 1786 noted that, “Many people have come to Bath, tired with taking medicines (at home) to no manner of purpose at all; they have drank the Bath Water with abundance of delight and pleasure, and by the help of a little physic have recovered to admiration.” The gentleman here may have commissioned the miniature to commemorate his return to health, attributed to taking the waters. The strong shadows crossing his face lend intensity to his spellbound expression, and Daniel’s attention to detail is apparent in the reflection of the window visible in the curved glass (fig. 1). This type of virtuoso portrait might have been displayed in the artist’s studio to attract clients, many of whom found entertainment in having their portrait painted while they were in Bath. Artists in Bath often arranged their studios as showrooms, and those who could afford it were situated near shops that sold European Art 1775–1825

luxury goods. Because they required fewer sittings than oil portraits and could be completed rapidly, miniatures were popular among tourists. This portrait’s size, coloring, and breaking of the picture plane are atypical of miniatures painted in Britain during the late 1700s. The rectangular format—large for a miniature on ivory—anticipates 19th-century miniaturists who competed with the oil paintings among which their work was exhibited. The golden-brown color and grayish flesh tones are typical of Daniel’s work, and the monumentality of the sitter’s gesture is enhanced by Daniel’s characteristic use of gum arabic mixed with watercolor, which results in a rich tone and texture intended to emulate oil painting. The golden hues of this

portrait echo those of 17th-century Dutch Fig. 2. The Merry Drinker, 1628–30. portraits, which were gaining popularity in (Dutch, about 1581–1666). Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Britain during the period that Daniel was painting.

One example by Frans Hals, The Merry Drinker, has a similar palette, composition, and gesture while underscoring an important distinction between types of drinking portraits (fig. 2). While Hals’s man has imbibed alcohol perhaps to the point of drunkenness, Daniel’s sitter soberly draws attention to his glass of water, the significance of which transcends the fleeting acts of toasting and drinking.

Rotation 11: European Art 1775–1825 Miniatures from the Bequest of Muriel Butkin

A small but an American artist of the Peale family formidable dynasty that included the better-known collection of eight Charles Willson, Peale, and James Peale, is regarded as among the portrait miniatures finest of her female portraits. Rosalba was left to the Carriera’s portrait of a woman with a museum by Muriel little dog wagging its tongue is typical of Butkin in 2008. her early work, which is colorful, highly Muriel’s husband, detailed and playful in spirit (fig. 1). Noah, was fond Carriera initiated the practice of painting of indulging her miniatures on ivory (as opposed to love of art and jewelry, and it is possible vellum) as embellishments to snuff box lids. that these miniatures were a Valentine’s Day present to her. All but one was purchased The miniature portrait of Grand Duchess from the Norton Galleries in New York in Catherine Pavlovna as a child is based on early February of 1975. an original full-scale oil painting. In the 1790s, the artist Dmitry Levitsky painted The Butkins’ finest miniatures were the four eldest daughters of Tsar Paul I as mostly French, including a portrait part of a series now in the Pavlovsk Palace of Antoine Roy, Minister of Finance of in Russia (fig. 2). This miniature portrait France, painted by Jean-Baptiste Jacques of Catherine was painted more than sixty Augustin at the height of his career. The years later by the Russian court painter red badge on Roy’s left lapel is the ribbon Alois Gustav Rokstuhl. This portrait of the order of the legion d’honneur, of the Grand Duchess (who rejected which he received in 1820. This portrait exemplifies the artist’s later, classicizing style, with a virtuoso blending of hues to create vivid flesh tones. The lid of a box in this case is significant primarily for its miniature by Pierre Louis Bouvier, a Swiss artist new to the museum’s collection. The refined treatment of the lush forest landscape makes this work distinctive, since miniatures usually lavished more attention on the sitter than the background. Bouvier’s miniatures often depict sitters in elaborate outdoor settings. Fig. 1 (left). Portrait of a Woman with a Also among the Butkin miniatures are Dog (detail), about 1710. Rosalba Carriera (Italian, 1675–1757). Watercolor on ivory; works by Rosalba Carriera and Anna 6.6 x 4.6 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Claypoole Peale, which enhance the Bequest of Muriel Butkin 2008.291 Fig. 2 (above). Portrait of Grand Duchess museum’s small but growing collection Catherine Pavlovna as a Child (detail), 1790s. Dmitry Levitsky (Russian, 1735–1822). of important female miniature painters. Oil on . The Pavlovsk Palace. The portrait by Anna Claypoole Peale, Pavlovsk, Russia

European Art 1775–1825

the hand of Napoleon and eventually Fig. 3. Portrait Elizabeth Stuart, became Queen of Württemberg) is an Electress Palatine and important contribution to the museum’s Queen of Bohemia, about 1630s. small but growing collection of miniature Alexander Cooper portraits of children. Finally, Alexander (British, 1609–1658). Watercolor on vellum; Cooper’s portrait of Elizabeth Stuart, 3.1 x 2.8 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Electress Palatine and Queen of Bohemia, Art, Bequest of Murial exemplifies a type of official portrait Butkin 2008.292 widely circulated by monarchs as diplomatic gifts and gestures of partiality (fig. 3). This example is still housed in its original blue, white, and black enamel locket with the initials of Elizabeth Stuart surmounted by a crown.

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5 4 Rotation 12: European Art 1775–1825 Performing Femininity on the Eve of Revolution

The flirtatious smiles and sumptuous costumes of these elegant French ladies disguise the fact that they are engaged in the serious business of performing the skills elite eighteenth-century women were expected to cultivate. More than simply ways to pass leisure time, playing music, reading, and writing were highly valued means of expressing intellect, marriageability, and aesthetic sensibilities. These closely related portraits were painted by three different artists, and together they exemplify hallmarks of late-eighteenth-century French miniature painting: the circular format, a seated figure painted at three- quarter length, and attention lavished on details of the sitter’s environment.

François Dumont’s Portrait of a Woman at a Harpsichord represents a woman in the act of playing a sonata (figs. 1 and 2). Her pale and delicately tapered fingers touch the keys almost absent-mindedly Fig. 1. (above) Portrait of a Woman at a Harpsichord (detail), about 1788. Fran- çois Dumont (French, 1751–1831). Watercolor on ivory; as she smiles confidently at the viewer, diam. 2 7/8 in. Edward B. Greene Collection 1942.1139

confirming the ease with which she Fig. 2. (below) Detail of music sheet, with “sonata” written at top. FromPortrait makes music. of a Woman at a Harpsichord (above). European Art 1775–1825

The woman in Maximilien Villers’s miniature has a more pensive expression that makes the juxtaposition of her highly revealing dress unexpected. She holds her place in a book with a colorful floral cover that draws attention to the ring on her finger, which is probably a wedding ring (fig. 3) often worn on the right hand by Roman Catholics in the eighteenth century. The coquettish grin of André Pujos’s sitter is tempered by the row of books next to her writing table, at which she cradles in her arms a long letter that she has been reading—her quill pen poised for response (fig. 4). For each of these unknown young women, the French Revolution of 1789 would have brought upheaval to their lives, rendering this kind of overtly luxurious aristocratic portraiture practically extinct in France for the next generation.

Fig. 3. (above) Portrait of a Woman (detail), about 1780. Maximilien Villers (French, active 1788–1804, died about 1836). Watercolor on ivory; diam. 2 5/8 in. Edward B. Greene Collection 1943.638

Fig. 4. (below)Portrait of a Woman in a Blue Dress (detail), 1783. André Pujos (French, 1738–1788). Watercolor on ivory; diam. 2 9/16 in. Edward B. Greene Collection 1943.650

Rotation 13: European Art 1775–1825 Hidden Insights: Looking at the Backs of Portrait Miniatures

Portrait miniatures were portable The addition of hair (usually belonging luxury objects treasured by to the person depicted) enhanced the intimacy of the object. In the case of their owners not only because Horace Hone’s portrait of Lady Grace Anna they contained a cherished Newenham [no. 1] the hair on the back of portrait, but often because of the case is formed into a typical Irish belt the precious materials from shape, appropriate for this Irish artist and patron. On the other hand, a wheat-sheaf which they were crafted. These motif could suggest death and is frequently 14 miniatures spanning 230 years seen in mourning miniatures [no. 10]. represent a variety of approaches The backs of miniatures can contain to ornamenting the back of a information illuminating the object’s history. portrait and suggest the wealth For instance, the back of the portrait of of information that can be hidden Ethel Coe by Martha Baker [no. 7] tells us that the work was exhibited as “The Blue from view. Gown” in 1904 at the St. Louis World’s Miniatures are fine art objects to which Fair. When John Smart’s portrait of a man the setting is integral and reveals whether [no. 6] revealed no clues as to the identity the portrait functioned as jewelry, a of the sitter, the elaborate coat of arms mourning memento, or was gradually enabled researchers to identify the family inscribed with its own exhibition history name as Lawrence, comparing the date of or provenance. Frequently patrons would the portrait with peers of that name until a spend substantially more than the cost of match was made with portraits of Soulden the portrait to have it placed in a gold or Lawrence. Please see the back of this card silver case outfitted with pearls, enamel, depicting the portraits on the front of diamonds, colored glass, or elaborate each miniature. All of these miniatures are hair work. watercolor on ivory, except for numbers 4, 9, and 13, which are enamel.

European Art 1775–1825 5 8 6 the cleveland museum of art of cleveland museum the 4 9 7 2 3 10 1 11 13 12 14

1775-1825 European Art European Rotation 14: European Art 1775–1825 Portrait Miniatures in Enamel

Unlike fragile portrait miniatures The complicated and labor-intensive painted in watercolor on vellum process of enameling required the artist to fire numerous layers of colored metal or ivory, which are prone to oxide at different temperatures. This cracking, fading, and flaking, process made it difficult to produce a enamels are resilient, impervious faithful portrait likeness, though masters to the effects of light, and retain of the medium like Jacques Thouron were able create portraits of remarkable their striking original colors subtlety imbued with the sitter’s over time. Partly for this reason personality [no. 6]. The back of an enamel enamel was considered ideal for is also glazed in the process, creating reproducing famous paintings the “counter enamel”—a surface where enamelists often signed and dated their and treasured portraits in a work and sometimes identified the sitter reduced and luminous form. (figs. 1, 2).

Figure 1. Counter enamel of Bone, Figure 2. Counter enamel of Essex, Portrait of General Sir Charles Grey. Portrait of Napoleon. Inscribed: Inscribed: “Sir Chas. Grey K. B. / Henry “Napoleon Buonaparte Painted Bone pinx Aug.st 1794” by W. Essex. Jan.y 1841 Enamel painter to Her Majesty. after a min.e painted expressly for the Empress Marie Louise by T. B. T. Duchesne. ad 1814” European Art 1775–1825

Figure 3. Zincke, detail of Portrait of a Man.

The heyday of enamel painting was the Henry Bone ushered in an enamel late 17th and early 18th centuries. Among renaissance during the late 1700s with his the enamel specialists were the Swiss Jean miniatures, which include sensitive and Petitot [nos. 3–5] and the German Christian elegant works like this portrait of General Friedrich Zincke [nos. 9, 10], who worked Sir Charles Grey [no. 1], after a portrait in England where he was patronized by by his contemporary Thomas Lawrence. Queen Anne, King George I, and King An innovator of new techniques, Bone George II, the latter a great lover of retained the brilliance and purity of enamels. One of the features that helps us colors in layered glass enamel while identify Zincke’s work are the lips painted achieving fine, naturalistic details by using in two different colors—purplish-pink on overglazes for the faces. top and orange below (fig. 3). Finally, though the tradition of enamel Some portrait miniaturists like Jean- portraiture is primarily associated with Baptiste Jacques Augustin worked in a European miniaturists, one of the most variety of media including watercolor on widely recognized enamels was created ivory and enamel. He produced many by an American artist. William Russell versions of this portrait of King Louis XVIII, Birch’s portrait of which would have been much in demand [no. 8] is one of around 60 versions as a diplomatic gift from the king to loyal executed by the artist after oil portraits of courtiers or foreign allies [no. 7]. The desire the president by . Given the for portraits of Napoleon Bonaparte helped opportunity to have Washington sit for to create a market for miniatures that him directly, Birch demurred, remarking William Essex was fueling long after the that he preferred to apply his skill to emperor’s death [no. 2]. reproducing in enamel the admirable and iconic work of Stuart.